Beauty. One of the first few words I remember being able to spell correctly as a child. A word so easy to remember but often loosely used and, rarely truly understood. So what about beauty? What is it that is so intriguing about this word? The very essence of the what it stands for is what can be the source of misery. They say that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Simply put, it is subjective. What may be beautiful to me may not be to you. We live in a world where we evaluate certain things based on the level of beauty. People question their worth on how high or low the level is. No matter how directly the obvious can be pointed out, it’s relationship is inverse. The higher the level of importance we give to beauty, the lower is our capability to see beyond what is in front of us.
We judge people based on the way they look and the way they dress. Beautiful hair, glowing skin and great body. How is that criteria to know if someone is a good person? If that person is reliable and worthy enough to be called a friend? Absolutely not. A beautiful looking person is not necessary a beautiful person. It holds true when they say that beauty is skin deep. Because beneath the surface there is much more to discover and that to me is beauty. That very moment when you discover there is more than what you see, is beauty. It’s beautiful. And no amount of shiny hair or great looking skin or what have you, can trump that. There’s beauty at every stage of the process of discovering that this person in front of me is a beautiful human being.
We may give hundreds of girls crowns for being drop dead gorgeous and don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with telling someone they are beautiful because beauty should be appreciated. But, when we look beyond just what we see, there is more value in its appreciation. There are hundreds of Beauty Queens around. Everywhere you look, there is an entire flock. People may gawk and stare in awe but it’s uninspired. It’s the impersonation of what one industry wants people to think is beautiful. What’s the result in the end? An entire generation of people who want to look like each other and where the idea of looking alike is considered beautiful. Like mass produced generic play things. The whole idea of promoting ‘beauty with brains’ or ‘beauty with a purpose’ is just a facade behind which the shallow ideals are disguised. It’s misguided and just disgusting. There is no purpose and the only brains involved are the ones used to trick everyone into believing that there is indeed more than just a bedazzling crown.
I have always wondered what it meant when they said that people peak too soon. They look their greatest and are in the best shape when they’re in their teens and then, that’s it. They don’t particularly take care of themselves after that and most don’t care about looking beyond the obvious. And then, that’s it. When they reach their twenties they’ve just given up and settle for a conformist lifestyle just to be accepted by society. They end up jaded and listless. Faded beauty queens. Our twenties and better yet, our thirties is when life begins, our careers have just taken off, you’re more confident and have more chances to meet all sorts of people. It’s a great place to be. Quite frankly, when people pay more attention to the things in life that matter, there is always much more to look forward to.
theblackchandelier 